Minutes of the thirtieth annual meeting and reunion of the United Confederate Veterans
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PRICE 50 Cents.
MINUTES OF THE
Thirty-first Annual
Meeting and Reunion
OF THE UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS
Held at Houston, Texas ON Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, October 6, 7 and 8 f 1920
K. M. VAN ZANDT, General Commanding
ANDREW B. BOOTH, Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff
Rogers Printing Company, New Orleans, Louisiana [Webmaster's
note: Thirty-first was over struck with the word 30th.]

MINUTES OF THE Thirty-first Annual
Meeting and Reunion
OF THE UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS
Held at Houston, Texas
ON Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,
October 6, 7 and 8, 1920. [Webmaster's note: Thirty-first was over struck with
the word 30th.]

MINUTES
The 31st Annual Convention and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans was
held at Houston, Texas, October 6th, 7th and 8th, 1920., At 10 o'clock A. M.
Wednesday, Oct. 6th, Bugle Call was sounded by Comrade E. E. Smith, of Sterling,
Price Camp No. 31, Dallas, Texas; the band played Dixie and the convention was called to order by General E. W. Kirkpatrick
Commander Texas Division, U. C. V., McKinney, Texas. A short address and invocation by Rev. J. W. Bachman, D. D.
Chaplain General, U. C. V. Addresses of welcome by Hon. A. E. Amerman, Mayor of Houston; by Governor W. P, Hobby,
Governor of the State of Texas. The Confederate Choir rendered Confederate airs, loudly cheered by the assembly.
Address of welcome on behalf of Texas Veterans by Judge Norman G. Kittrell, and a greeting to the Official
Ladies of the U. C. V. by Miss Katie Duffan, Past Sponsor for the South, and the gavel and convention was turned
over to General K. M. Van Zandt, Commander-in-Chief.

The band rendered "Dixie" which was enthusiastically cheered.
Response to the addresses of welcome was made by Comrade Captain James Dinkins, of Camp No. 9, New Orleans, La.
A poem, "San Jacinto/' by Miss Virginia Fraser Boyle,
of Memphis, Tenn., was read, and received with cheers.
Admiral O. A. Wright, of the Confederate States Navy,
spoke briefly of plans to build a Home for veterans of the
Confederate Navy, and was enthusiastically cheered.

The convention then took recess until 3 o'clock P. M.
Afternoon, Wednesday, Oct. 6th, 3. P. M. Session.
Invocation by Rev. Dr. Buffington. Music by band, and song by Confederate Choir.
The annual address was delivered by Hon. Fritz G. Lanham, of Fort Worth, Texas.

Telegram of greetings from Corpus Christi Chapter,
United Daughters of Confederacy, was received from Mrs.
Walter L. Barnum, Secretary, was read and received with
cheers.

The following telegram was read and received from the
Governor of the State of Oklahoma:
Oklahoma City, Okla., Oct. 5th, 1920.
To the Commander-in-Chief
United Confederate Veterans,
Houston, Texas:

Public and official duties prevent me from attending
your present Reunion, but I cannot neglect the opportunity
to send greetings and best wishes to you and all the old heroes who wore the Gray. May this Reunion be the source of
great joy and happiness to you all, and may you be spared
for many years of usefulness. Oklahoma is justly proud of
her Confederate soldiers and is trying to care for them and
honor them as they deserve to be cared for and honored.

They are a great asset to our State and nation, because
they are all good citizens, loyal, patriotic, and true in their
devotion to duty, and high ideals in government. They
serve as an inspiration to us of the younger generation, and
enable us to do better service to ourselves, our State, our
nation, and to humanity. The sacrifices made by the men
and women of the Confederacy are becoming better known,
and more appreciated every day, God bless you, and each
and every one of you.
J. B. A. ROBERTSON, Governor.

Upon motion, duly seconded and carried, a vote of appreciation and thanks was extended to Governor Robertson
of Oklahoma for his timely and thoughtful words of greeting to our convention. The Confederate Choir rendered a
song, which was greeted with applause.

A splendid address was eloquently delivered by young
Terrell Sledger, of Driftwood, Texas; and he was cheered
to the echo in appreciation by the Veterans. Both his
grandfathers were in the Confederate service.

A resolution was unanimously adopted requiring all resolutions to be submitted to Committee on Resolutions
without reading.
And it was announced a meeting of that
committee would be held at 8 O'clock P. M. in Room 719,
Rice Hotel.

Music was rendered by the band. Called to order by
General K. M. Van Zandt. Invocation by Assistant Chaplain General Giles B. Cooke, of Portsmouth, Va., Chaplain-in-Chief Sons of Confederate Veterans.

General George Hillyer, of Atlanta, Ga. 3 addressed the
Convention in favor of government pensions for Confederate veterans. Telegrams of greetings were read from
General George H. Tichenor, New Orleans, La.; Mrs. Cornelia Branch Stone, Roanoke, Va.; General C. Irvine Walker*
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; Mrs. Eliza Harrison,
Washington, D. C, and the following loyal telegram greeting was read and received with great applause:

San Antonio, Texas.
General K. M. Van Zandt, Commanding United Confederate Veterans' Encampment, Houston, Texas.
"The Department of Texas American Legion, on behalf of 180,000 Texas service men
of the World War, extends Heartiest greetings to the veterans of '61 and '65,
Your example to us by your service in the war between the States was our
incentive to conduct our actions honorably and well in the World Conflict just
ended. Your sons and grandsons desire for you to know that your precepts and
your example has been our guiding star for half a century and their luster can
never dim. In foreign lands we fought side by side with the sons of your former
and honored opponents and came to know that there is no longer a North and no
longer a .South, but one America, of which you form so noble a part. The Stars
and Bars now mingle with the Stars and Stripes and, combined for the eternal
good of all mankind, wave triumphant over a united and grand America, for which
you shed your blood and for which we offered ours.
"The American Legion feels that it has a noble work
to perform in following in the footsteps of our two veteran
organizations, and it will endeavor to prove worthy of the
trust. The Department of Texas is honored by your meeting within our borders and we wish that every success
may crown your future years.

Convention met. Music by the band. Invocation by
Rev. Randolph Clark, Stephenville, Texas. Address by
Edgar Scurry, Wichita Falls, Texas, Sons of Veterans.
Address by Judge Charles B. Howry, of Washington, D. C. f
greetings from S. C. V. General J. S, Carr made a report
on Battle Abbey, which was received and endorsed. Upon
report of the Committee on Resolutions and Discussion* the
following resolutions were adopted;

Resolution No. 1,
Whereas, the records of the enlistment and services of
the Confederate soldiers were removed from Richmond to
the War Department of the United States Government at
Washington, and are now under control and in the custody
of the Adjutant General; and

Whereas, these records are liable to be obliterated and
lost by the lapse of time; and
Whereas, those records constitute a valuable and important part of the historical material of this country and
are particularly valuable for the families, friends and descendants of these soldiers.

Now therefore resolved, first That it is very important
that said records be carefully preserved, and to this end
we respectfully request that they be printed by the government whilst they are still legible and bound in permanent
form for preservation and for such distribution as may be
deemed proper, and that if funds for that purpose are not
now available that an appropriation be made therefor by
the Congress of the United States, Resolved, second, That the members and friends of this
organization bring this to the attention of the United States Senators and Representatives of their several States and Districts.

Resolution No 2:
1. The United Confederate Veterans, in Convention at
Houston, Texas, reaffirms the statement of last year's Convention at Atlanta, that General Lee's University at Lexington is not only his imperishable monument, but his living
representative, engaged in the great task of propagating
his influence and ideals among successive generations of
future leaders. It, therefore, commends it to the sympathy
and support of all who honor his memory and wish to perpetuate his influence.

2. It hereby reappoints its former Committee on the
Robert K Lee Memorial School of Engineering, approves
the plan of procedure adopted and authorizes its chairman
to fill any vacancies occurring in the committee, form auxiliary committees and adopt whatever methods the committee approves to push the work
to completion.It urges all Veterans and allied organizations, and
all who may be called by the committee for active service, to lend their zealous and liberal aid.3. Recognizing the thinning numbers and increasing
infirmities of its own membership, it confidently calls upon
the Sons of Confederate Veterans for that sympathy and
assistance which shall carry our great enterprise to a
speedy and successful conclusion and congratulates those
State Divisions of the Daughters which have undertaken
the custodianship and enlargement of the Lee Chapel and
Mausoleum.

It would remind the widows, sons and other relatives and friends of deceased Confederates of this opportunity to link forever the names of such Veterans with
the name and memory of their immortal commander in a
great permanent memorial, which, in sight of his sacred
tomb, shall carry on his life-work through all succeeding
generations.

Resolution No. 3.
Resolved, That we, the United. Con fed crate Veterans of
the South, in Convention assembled and having faith in the
fairness of the United States Congress, do hereby memorialize and petition said Congress as follows:
Whereas, we fought for the cause we thought was right,
offering our service and our lives upon the blood-stained
battle fields of the South, defending her flag; and Whereas, when the conflict was over and we, the sons
of the South, joined hands with the sons of the North, to
lay down arms and be brothers and countrymen, following
the flag of the Stars and Stripes; and Whereas, at the close of that great conflict there was
a tax levied for a period of two years upon the Southland,
and winch tax amounted to from five to six dollars per bale
upon all cotton raised in the South, malting a grand total
of some sixty-five million dollars, and of this amount the
State of Texas did contribute perhaps the amount of three
million dollars to such tax,

Be it, therefore, resolved, That a committee be appointed by the United Confederate Veterans, assembled at
Houston, Texas is such committee to be composed of three
members therefrom, and that such committee be instructed
to implore and petition the Legislature of the State of Texas
to memorialize and request the Congress of the United
States for our right to demand our pro rata part of the tax
so levied, and to receive our portion thereof.

Resolution No. 4.
Be it resolved by the United Confederate Veterans, in
Convention assembled at Houston, Texas, Oct 7, 1920, That
a committee be appointed by our Commander-in-Chief,
clothed with authority to do all and every thing in their
judgment necessary to the accomplishment in all of its details of a trust, as follows: To remove the remains of Mrs. Sarah Knox Taylor Davis, the first wife of President Jefferson Davis, from the private grave yard in Bayou Sara,
where they now rest, to Holly Wood Cemetery at Richmond, Va., and to re-inter the same there in some appropriate
plot of ground and as near as possible to the grave of her
husband.

Said committee is further authorized, at their option,
to appoint sub-committees to assist in the work, including
the raising of a sum of money to defray the necessary expenses of the undertaking. The committee is further authorized to procure and place in position such monument or
markers as in their judgment shall be appropriate and expressive of the admiration of the nation for Mrs. Davis'
illustrious father, President Zachary Taylor, and of the love
of the South for the memory of her husband, President
Jefferson Davis.

Said committee shall be composed of three or more Confederate Veterans, and the sub-committee, if any, shall be
composed of Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of
the American. Revolution or Sons of Confederate Veterans,
or of all three organizations, at the option of the committee.

Resolution No. 5.
Whereas, it is the wish of all true Americans that every
vestige of sectionalism be obliterated; and Whereas, no part of our reunited country is more devoted to the Union than the South;
Therefore be it resolved by the United Confederate Veterans, in Reunion at Houston, Texas, Oct. 7, 1920:
1. We insist that children should be taught that the
glorious history of our country is the heritage of every
section in common.
2. We urge upon all school authorities North and South
to exercise every care to have used in their schools only
histories that do justice to all sections.
3. We unhesitatingly condemn Beard & Bagley's His-
tory of the American People because it is grossly unfair
to the Southern people of the past and the Southern people
of today.

We further condemn Beard & Bagley's History of
the American People because, on account of Its Socialistic
tendency and its pro-German treatment of the World War
it is a dangerous text to place in the hands of young children North or South.
We earnestly request, in the name of Americanism
in the name of democracy and in the name of justice and
truth, that all school authorities exclude Beard & Bagley's
History of the American People from use in their schools.

Resolution No. 6.
Whereas, the practice of appointing a number of ladies
to represent the various Departments, Divisions, Brigades
and Camps of the United Confederate Veterans has in
many cases been abused,
Therefore be it resolved by the United Confederate Veterans in Convention assembled at Houston. Texas, Oct. 7,
1920, That the following: appointments, at any general
Reunion of all the Departments, Divisions, Brigades and
Camp officers, shall be limited strictly to the following
official ladies:
One Sponsor.
Three Maids of Honor.
One Chaperone,
One Matron of Honor.
Note: Official ladies for Camps are appointed for State,
District and local Reunions, and are not furnished badges by
committee at General Reunions.

Before the adoption of Resolution No. 4 the following
tribute was read and adopted by a rising vote:
An Old Mirror and a Suggestion.
By Hampden Osborne, Adjutant General, Army of Tennessee Department.)
During a recent visit at the home of my kinsman, Mr.
James Oliver Banks, in Alabama, I noticed in the hall near
my room a strange mirror. The glass was of goodly dimensions and enclosed in a quaint old frame of gilded wood.
The frame bore marks of age and of several buildings,
and the proportions of both frame and glass reminded one
of pictures of the furnishings of a Virginia lady's boudoir
a hundred years ago. One may safely estimate the age
of the mirror as more than a hundred years.

A condensed history of the old relic, as given me by my hostess, Mrs. Banks, is
about as follows: "I call it my Davis mirror. It was part of the furnishings of
the bed chamber of President Davis and his wife in the home of his sister, Mrs.
Smith, in Bayou Sara, La. It was there, you remember, that Lieutenant Jefferson
Davis took his bride, who was Sarah Knox Taylor, soon after their marriage in
Kentucky in the summer of 1835. My aunt, who was Susan Madison Buck, of
Fredericksburg, Va., married Mr. Jed Smith, a nephew of President Davis, and at his
(Mr. Smith's) death, the plantation and its appurtenances
passed in the possession of his widow. The supposition is
that the mirror first belonged to President Davis' mother
and came from Kentucky. At any rate, he gave it to his
sister and she gave it to her daughter-in-law, my aunt. A
short time before my aunt's death she gave it to me. You
may know that I value it highly."

As I stood before the mirror, gazing- into its depths, I
thought of the many times it had reflected the images of
Sarah Taylor Davis and Jefferson Davis. A thought also
came of the claim by some scientists that such is the subtle
power of light that the pictures of that historic couple are
fastened in that silver backing, and that some day chemists
will find a process for developing those now invisible impressions, so the longer I gazed, the greater in fancy grew
the value of that old relic.

The story of the honeymoon of Mr. Davis and his bride
on the Bayou Sara plantation, and its pathetic ending, was
not new to me. I had heard it all from the lips of Mrs.
Susan Buck Smith years ago, but the mirror brought it all
back to me, and other and subsequent facts brought the
suggestion to mind which I will give my readers later on.

Again, in fancy, I journeyed with Mrs. Smith to the
place, and as we walked through the halls, the gardens and
the grove, listening intently to a description of incidents
in the home life of the young couple, she always referring
to Mr. Davis as "Uncle Jeff," and soon we found ourselves
in the little graveyard some two hundred yards from the
manor house, and then came the story of the pathetic ending
of those happy months.

Death smote both of those young lovers with its wing,
both were ill with typhoid fever in adjoining rooms. On
the day of the crisis Mr. Davis, hearing an unusual sound
from his wife's room, went promptly to her. He found, in
her semi-delirium, she was singing; singing to him an old
love song he dearly liked. He took the dying girl in his
arms and held her there, she still singing until her sweet
spirit took its flight.

The double shock to Mr. Davis from the death of his
girl-wife and the severity of the fever so prostrated him
that he was a physical wreck for more than a year, However, as soon as he was strong enough for his duties, he
returned to Mississippi.

They buried "Sarah Knox" in the little family graveyard, A brick wall some two feet high was built around
the grave, and on that was placed a plain white marble, slab
with the name and dates. Mrs. Smith further told me the deep affection in which Mr. Davis ever held this spot,
and how, very soon after he was liberated on bond from
his prison cell at Fort Monroe, he journeyed to the place.
There he found that vandals in the garb of Federal soldiers
had torn away the slab and the wall and dug great holes
in the grave in search of supposed hidden treasure. He
soon brought brick masons with material, who restored the
wall and replaced the slab, obliterating all marks of the
base desecration.
Through the remaining years of his life Mr. Davis
would, at regular intervals, make pilgrimages to the grave.

During the eighty-five years since Sarah Taylor Davis
was buried, the estate has been continuously in the possession of some member of the Davis family, first, Mrs. Smith,
his sister; next his nephew, Mr. Jed Smith, and then it
descended to the latter's widow, who owned it for a long
period of years. Mrs. Susan Buck Smith died recently, the
plantation has been sold to strangers, and the grave of Mrs.
Davis is now in the care of no one. And now comes the
thought, over and over: That girl was the daughter of
Zachary Taylor and the wife of Jefferson Davis. Should
such illustrious dust be thus forsaken? Should we not
make her grave with the great of the earth.

On my last visit to the Davis Square, in Hollywood
Cemetery, I noted carefully the unoccupied spaces there
and saw there was ample room for the remains of Sarah
Taylor Davis. Should they not rest near those of the husband who in life adored her? If laid there, we all know they
will receive protection and tender care for all time. Yes,
the care of the whole South, and more especially of the
Daughters of the Confederacy of the City of Richmond,
and, we may safely add, of their daughters and granddaughters through countless generations to come.

The question now comes, to whom should go the honor and the responsibility of carrying out this suggested re-sepulture? It interests all those who would honor the
family of Zachary Taylor as well as those who would attest
love for Jefferson Davis or honor for his memory. It especially interests all the Confederate organizations of the City
of Richmond. I would, therefore, suggest that the United
Confederate Veterans Association, at its great Reunion to
be held in Houston, Texas, next October, appoint a committee charged with the duty and clothed with the authority
to do whatever is necessary to achieve the desired results.
And, further, that said committee be authorized and re-
quested to call to their aid representatives of the D. A. R,
and U. D. C. organizations in the City of Richmond.

Conception of laudable schemes should be quickly followed by execution. To provide the necessary funds, not
a great sum for the work, you, the people of the South,
will be appealed to, not by the writer of this article, not
even by the united voice of the thousands of Confederate
Veterans who will assemble in Houston Oct. 6 for their
great Reunion, but by the facts and by your own hearts.

Everything must have a beginning, and to start the
required fund the writer has sent a small sum of money
to the Confederate Veterans, with the request that its manager, Miss Edith D. Rope, receive the same as Treasurer
of the Sarah Taylor Davis Fund.

What Mrs. Susan Buck Smith told of President Davis'
abiding loyalty to the dust of his girl-wife, of his delicate
reserve in the steadfast performance of what he regarded
a sacred duty, and of the deep sentiment in his nature
which manifestly prompted it all, is, until now, an unwritten chapter in the life of this great man,

A mandate will sure issue from the great Convention
of United Confederate Veterans at Houston. Texas, in October next, and, at some not distant day, a little group of
good men and good women, assembled in Hollywood Cemetery, will, with simple solemnity, accord long-deferred honor
to the dust of the high-minded daughter of President
Zachary Taylor, who married the rising young army officer
who is now known to the world as President Jefferson
Davis.

Resolution No. 7.
Having heard with unfeigned interest the masterly and
soul-stirring address of the Hon, Fritz Lanham, the son of
a noble Confederate soldier and statesman, the late Governor Lanham, of Texas, and it was so fraught with the
true spirit of real Americanism and breathing so much of
peace and fraternalism that we deem it of great value and
interest to those who will follow after us that we request
Comrade Lanham to furnish our Adjutant General with a
copy of said address and that the Adjutant be instructed
to have it printed in pamphlet form and a copy sent to every
Camp in the domain of United Confederate Veterans, with
the request that it be given publicity in the Camp, and In
order to carry out this resolution, suggest that a committee of three (3) be appointed to secure funds for the publication of this address. JAMES D. OSBORN, M.D. Assistant Surgeon General
U. C. V.

Note: No copy of the address was ever furnished for publication.
Resolution No, 8.
Whereas, in all the history of the world there is not a
more inspiring record of heroism and patriotic devotion to
a high principle; no nobler example of sacrifice of blood
and treasure for home and fireside; no greater loyalty to
the leadership of heroic officers than that presented in
the Confederacy; and Whereas, those deeds of high heroism will forever remain an inspiration to the sons and daughters of those
who gave their lives and fortunes for the Lost Cause, we
feel that it is but right and proper that a fitting memorial
to those who made possible this rich heritage be erected
and forever dedicated to their memory. Every true son
and daughter of the South would count it a high privilege
to aid in the erection of a memorial which would stand for
generations as the symbol of the heroic deeds of their
progenitors.
Therefore be it resolved, That we, the Veterans of the
Confederacy, and the sons and daughters of those who gave
their lives and their fortunes for the perpetuation of our
ideals and the preservation of our honor, endorse a movement to erect a monument in the City of Houston, such
monument to be fashioned after the design created by
Enrico Cerracchio and published on the cover page of the
Reunion edition of the Confederate Veteran, the original
of such design being now on exhibition in the display window of W. C. Munn Company in this city.

Be it further resolved, That we dedicate ourselves to
the work of securing the erection of this monument, which
shall be the property of all the Southland, the common
heritage of all who love the Cause of the Confederacy and
revere the memory of those who, in behalf of this Cause,
joined the bivouac of the dead. Let this monument stand
through the centuries as a tribute to the heroism of those
whom power could not corrupt, whom death could not terrify and whom defeat could not dishonor.

Be it further resolved, That a copy of this resolution be
spread upon the minutes of this Reunion and supplied to all
State organizations and to the newspapers.
Session 2 P. M., Thursday, Oct. 7, 1921.
Music by the band. Invocation by Rev. Randolph Clark.
Section 2, Article VII of the Constitution, under heading, "General Headquarters," was, by unanimous vote,
changed to read as follows:
Section 2. The Battle Abbey of the Louisiana State
Museum, New Orleans, La., shall be the depository of all
records, papers and relics of this Federation.

A report of the Confederate Memorial Association, the
second annual report, showing the progress made in the
completion of the Confederate Memorial Institute, known
as the Battle Abbey, with tabulated financial statement
(but without signature), was read to the Convention.

A poem styled "San Jacinto," by Mrs. Virginia Fraser
Boyle, was also read.

One minute of standing in silence was devoted to the
prayerful memory of Sam Davis, of Tennessee, and David
Dodd, of Arkansas, the two Confederate soldier-patriots
who gave their lives rather than forget their word of honor.

General W. J. Stone, of Kentucky, made an interesting
address about the Jefferson Davis Home Association and
the Fairview Monument to that noted leader.

A resolution thanking the people of Houston for the
generous entertainment and the newspapers of the city for
their notices, was passed by unanimous vote.

One minute standing was devoted to the memory of
Comrade C. A. Leaverton, of Normangee, Leon County,
Texas, 82 years of age, who was found dead in his room at
1235 Harvard Street. His death came from natural causes.

A resolution thanking the railroads for their cooperation and many favors was passed unanimously.
Order of business being election of officers. General K.
M. Van Zandt was nominated to succeed himself. No other
nomination being made, by unanimous vote the Convention
ordered the Adjutant General to cast the 1,320 votes of
delegates for General Van Zandt, which was done.

Lieutenant General Julian S. Carr was re-elected Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia Department.
Lieutenant General Calvin B. Vance was re-elected Commander of the Army of Tennessee Department.
Lieutenant General Virgil Y. Cook was re-elected Commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department.
The selection of the place of meeting for 1921 was left
to the Commander, with his three Department Commanders. The Convention then adjourned.
ANDREW B. BOOTH
Adjutant General and Chief of Staff.

REUNION, Houston, TEXAS, OCTOBER, 1920 IV
APPENDIX
I. United Daughters of Confederacy, Exposition of
the Historic Data John Drinkwater's "Abraham Lincoln."
II. Report of the Rutherford Committee.
III. Address by Rev. B. A. Owen, Assistant Chaplain
Sons Confederate Veterans.
The following article by the Daughters of the Confederacy is an exposition of the historic data which John
Drinkwater, an English writer, has woven into his recent
drama, "Abraham Lincoln," and which is attracting widespread attention:
Mr. Drinkwater announced in the introduction to the
drama that his purpose is that of the dramatist and not
the historian. Unfortunately for his purpose, he deals extravagantly with historic facts, which deeply impress his
audiences. The historic data used by him is exceedingly inaccurate and unjustly misleading. This history concerns
a great and proud people, whose intellectual and spiritual
force, whose civic and military achievements were vital
factors in the building of this, the greatest nation in the
world today. They are a people who have suffered greatly,
but bravely and patiently, and they deserve their rightful
place in history.
The purpose of the Daughters of the Confederacy then
is that of the historian in the defense of the truth.

The drama opens with a reference to the landing of the
Pilgrims in the Mayflower, which suggests the legend to
which certain New England writers have attempted to place
the stamp of history that the Pilgrims in the Mayflower
were the first English settlers in America and that all the
great and good things which followed are to be accredited
to them and their descendants.
Jamestown, Va., as all school histories and encyclopedias will testify, was settled by the English in 1607. The
Pilgrims did not come to America until 1620. By that time
the Virginia Colony had become well established. A government with a written Constitution was in force. There
were schools and churches. The plantations were cultivated
as far inland as Richmond and a profitable commerce had
begun to bear fruits. It was the success of this colony
which induced the Pilgrims to come to America.
Mr. Drinkwater draws a picture of England when Cromwell came into power, and makes it a setting for another
picture portraying conditions in the United States, leading
up to the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency.

They follow:
"Once when a peril touched the days
Of freedom in our English ways,
And none renowned in government was equal found;
Came to the steadfast heart of one
Who watched in lonely Huntingdon,
A summons and he went,
And tyranny was bound,
And Cromwell was Lord of his event.
"And in that land where voyaging
The Pilgrim Mayflower came to rest,
Among the chosen, counseling;
Once, when bewilderment possessed
A people, none there was might draw
To fold the wandering thoughts of men,
Of liberty and law.
"And then, from fifty fameless years
in quiet Illinois was sent
word that still the Atlantic hears,
And Lincoln was the Lord of his event."

A real student of history will have great difficulty in
tracing an analogy between conditions of the two historic
periods as described by Mr. Drinkwater. "Law and Liberty" were made one in the United States as the result of
the Revolutionary War, before Mr. Lincoln was ever born,
and they continued in force until his accession to the Presidency. "Law and Liberty" found their rightful expression
in the Declaration of Independence and reached their highest accent in the Constitution.

Instead of the people being possessed with "bewilderment," as described in the drama, those years covered the
great constructive period, in which the United States as
a nation was in process of building, and they present an
era of progress without a parallel.

The immense extension of territory, founding of educational institutions, religious and benevolent institutions, and discoveries in science; inventions; steam as a
motive power and the telegraph coming into use, improvement of the printing press, construction of the Atlantic
cable; the great work of Matthew Fontain Murray in giving
to the world the interpretation of the Gulf Stream and
chart of the ocean currents; the stretch of internal improvements, both in highways and railroads; the Erie
Canal plans of the great continental railroad, strengthening
of coast defenses and elevating the army and navy to a
higher standard by Jefferson Davis when Secretary of War,
The establishment of international laws as the result of
American victories which settled the rights of nations on
the high seas, and the legislation which gave the protection
of its Monroe Doctrine were notable achievements of the
period, Christianity also received a wonderful impetus and
was carried throughout the highways of the new territory,
and to the Indians and Negroes on the large plantations.
The missionary spirit to extend Christianity into foreign
lands also gained force.

Instead of fameless years, the wonderful progress of
these years developed illustrious characters of imperishable fame. Prominent among the leaders were Southern
representatives, The list is too long to be catalogued in
this article. Only a few of the most conspicuous can be
mentioned.
Among the Southern statesmen: George Washington,
the first president; Thomas Jefferson, the author of the
Declaration of Independence; James Madison, the author
of the Constitution; Edmond Randolph, the author of the
Declaration of Independence; James Madison, the author
of the Constitution; Edmond Randolph, the author of the
"Laws of Neutrality"; George Mason, the author of the
first "Declaration of Rights"; James Monroe, the author
of the "Monroe Doctrine"; Patrick Henry, the father of
"States Rights"; Chief Justices John Marshall and Roger
Brooks Taney, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, the great
"Pacificator"; Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens, James
K. Polk, Charles Pinckney and others.

Among the Southern military heroes were: Of the
Indian Wars, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Jackson, Jefferson
Davis and others. Andrew Jackson was the greatest hero
of the War of 1812, Houston and Davy Crockett of the
Texas Revolution. The Mexican War developed a long list
of heroes, the most distinguished were Generals Zachary
Taylor, Winfield Scott, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and
others.

General Scott gave Robert E. Lee the credit of planning the battles from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. Jefferson
Davis' directed the brilliant victories of Buena Vista and
Monterey. His heroism and military leadership at these
two battles have never been surpassed and rarely equaled
in the annals of war.

John Paul Jones, Admiral Raphael Semmes and Admiral Franklin Buchanan, who were recognized as among
the most brilliant commanders in the navy, were from the
South.

Southern writers of note, scientists, inventors, educators, founders of great institutions, promoters of progressive movements and ministers of note covered a large field
in this era.
In reviewing the wonderful panorama of great characters and their achievements, it will be interesting to know whom he has distinguished as the "Lord" of his event who
had been announced by a certain element The Greatest American."
As greatness is measured by service, he must have accomplished something marvelously great to have won such distinction over an array like this.

The records do not mention Mr. Lincoln in the lines
or literature or science, or invention; the founding of any
great institution or movement or that he ever contributed to
their support.
The records speak of him as having been connected with
military affairs as captain of a company of volunteers from
Illinois during the Black Hawk War.

Ida Tarbell one of his biographers, describes him as
being perfectly ignorant of the manual and military discipline and that his mistakes were so grievous, that he was
constantly under correction. She states that: "The only
service he rendered was at Kellogg' s Grove. He had been
ordered to join a regiment there and he arrived at the close
of a skirmish and helped to bury five men, who were killed in the skirmish.

That the records be kept clear, it is well to mention here,
that Jefferson Davis captured Black Hawk and conducted
him to Jefferson Barracks. His treatment of the Hawk was so chivalrous, that the old chief always referred to him
the fineyoung brave." From Black Hawk's Autobiography.

Mr. Lincoln is recorded again as having served one term in Congress. He
was not a success there, which he felt keenly, and he
returned to the practice of law Mr. Drinkwater makes
"The Emancipation of the Slaves" the dominant note of
his drama as being the issue leading up to the War
between the States, the North for freeing them and the South to continue them in slavery and
that it was the policy of Mr. Lincoln's administration.

Real Cause of Secession.
The unjust discrimination and the tariff of 1828-1833
the South paying two-thirds of the custom duties while she
had only one-thirdof the vote; the unjust legislation in
1833 of giving the North the surplus of many millions in
the public treasury for public improvements (George Lunt) the usurpation of
power in regard to the rights of the states in the new territory and other
violations of the Constitution detrimental to the vital interests of the South
were the cause of secession, "Secession is not intended to break up the present
government, but to perpetuate it. Our plan is to withdraw from the Union in
order to allow amendments to the Constitution to be made, guaranteeing our just
rights. If the Northern States will not permit the amendments, then we must
secure them by a government of our own." (Scheffner's "Secession of War.")

Secession Was Constitutional.
"If the Union was formed by the accession of States,
then the Union may be dissolved by the secession of
States." (Daniel Webster).
"If the Constitution is a compact, then the States have
a right to secede." (Judge Story).
"Any people whatever, have a right to abolish the existing government and form a new one, that suits them
better." (Abraham Lincoln, Congressional Records, 1847).

"The South has an undeniable right to secede from the
Union. In the event of secession, the city of New York
and the State of New Jersey and very likely Connecticut
will separate from the New England States, when the black
man is put on a pinnacle above the white." (New York
Herald, Nov. 11, 1860).

New England Was the Parent of Secession.
"New England threatened secession as early as 1790
and again in 1799. John Quincy Adams announced that a
plan was being arranged for New England to secede and
form a union with Great Britain. In 1812 feeling again
arose and New England again threatened secession. December 13th, 1814, to January 5, 1815, a convention was
held at Hartford, Conn,, to which Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island sent representatives. The sessions
were secret, but among the decisions later revealed was that
secession was justifiable as a remedy for an uncongenial
union." (Thompson's History of the United States).

The Statute of establishing perpetual slavery was adopted by Massachusetts, December, 1641. (Massachusetts
Historical Collections).
Another testimony establishing Constitutionality of secession is in the fact that Jefferson Davis was never
brought to trial as a traitor. Chief Justice Chase said, Jefferson Davis be brought to trial it will convince the
North and exonerate the South.

The Extension of Slave Territory the issue of 1860.
The admission of additional territory brought in by the
Louisiana Purchase and the annexation of Texas the great
West and Northwest, precipitated new issues. The South
held to the doctrine of State sovereignty which has been
established by the Constitution and claimed that the States
as they came in, had a right to adjust their own laws and
to decide for themselves whether they would allow free or
slave labor. The North and the East repudiated those laws.
This brought bitter debates in Congress and became the
campaign issue in 1860.

"The point the Republican Party wanted to stress was
to oppose making slave-states out of newly acquired territory and not abolishing slavery as it existed. Lincoln
spoke of anti-slavery men in 1862 as Radicals and coalitionists." (Rhodes History of the United States).

The Ft. Sumter affair was made a special feature of the
drama, Mr. Lincoln attributing the motive of the Confederacy to continue slavery.
"The forts of the South were partnership property and
each State an equal party to the ownership. The Federal
Government was only a general agent of the real partners:
—the States which composed the Union, The forts went
with the State. South Carolina could not deprive New York
of her forts, nor could New York deprive South Carolina of
hers," (Horton's History, pp, 71-72).

"South Carolina, feeling she had a Constitutional Sovereign right to her own territorial possession, sent commissioners to Washington to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal
of the troops from what was her protection to her harbor.
The commissioners were not recognized in their official capacity and were detained under misleading inducements until Lincoln through his war department could prepare for
the defense of the fort. The vessels carrying the reinforcements refused to return or surrender and were fired
on." (John, Codman Ropes Story of the Civil War).

The Cause of the War.
The War Between the States was not caused by the
question of the "Emancipation of the Slaves"; nor did it
begin with the firing on Ft. Sumter. The cause and its
declaration, centered in the order issued by Abraham Lincoln for 2,400 men and 265 guns for the defense of Sumter,
followed by his call for 75,000 troops to coerce the South
back into the Union.

"The determination expressed by Lincoln in his inaugural address to hold and occupy and possess the property and
places belonging to the United States, precipitated the outbreak and his determination to collect duties and imports
was practically an announcement of an offensive war."
(Hosmer's History of the American Nation, Vol. 20, p. 20).

"The attempt to reinforce Sumter will provoke war.
The very preparation of such an expedition will precipitate
war. I would instruct Anderson to retire from Sumter.
(Secretary William Seward in Lincoln's Cabinet),

That the war was not waged for the emancipation of
the slaves, has an unanswerable argument in the fact that
General Grant, the commander of the Union forces, was a
slave-holder and retained possession of his slaves until freed
by the war. General Lee, commander of the Confederate
forces, freed his slaves before the war.

Another strong argument is in the fact, that there were
315,000 slave-holders in the North and non-seceding States
and only 200,000 in the Confederacy.

"The war was inaugurated by the North and defended
on an unconstitutional basis." (The Opening of the Twentieth Century).

"The North waged war to coerce the South back into the Union." Southern men fought a defensive war for State Bights
and State Sovereignty, with a holy ardor and self-denying patriotism, that have covered even defeat with imperishable glory." (Charles Beecher Stowe).

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation a War Measure.
This historic document, which was introduced by Mr.
Lincoln after the war had advanced, has been given many
versions. It is well here to state briefly the conditions
which caused him to repudiate the statement made in his
inaugural address in regard to the constitution and then let
M. Lincoln make his own statement.

At the time of its inception (1862) the armies of the South were gloriously victorious. Their marvelous valor and achievements were startling the world. Carl Schurz, who had just returned from Europe, reported that a profound impression had been made on England and France,
and that there was danger of the Southern Confederacy being recognized by them.

Mr. Lincoln then decided to meet the issue by the celebrated document. In presenting his intention to his cabinet,
he stated. "I have no constitutional right to interfere with
the institution of slavery in the States, but I think the Constitution invests the commander-in-chief with the law of war in time of war. Slaves are property. Has I here ever been
any question, that by the law of war, property both of
enemies and friends may be taken, when needed. Is it not
needed whenever taking it helps us and hurts Liu- enemy
Armies the world over destroy their own to keep it from
the enemy. Civilized belligerents do all in their power to
help themselves or hurt the enemy. Without this policy
the Negroes will remain and continue to raise food." (Rhodes
History of the United States. Ida Tarbell's Life of Abraham Lincoln and other biographers).

"The Negroes produce food for the Confederacy. It is
a military necessity absolutely essential for the salvation of
the nation, that the slaves be emancipated." (Thompson's
History of the United States). "I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was driven back from Maryland, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves." (Barn's Popular History).

Fearing the effect on the slaves in the slave territory
outside the Confederate army and especially its effect on
the 50,000 slave-holders in the Union Army, Mr. Lincoln
placed special emphasis on his motive as being purely a war
measure confined strictly to this territory and excluding the
slaves in Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and portions of Tennessee, Virginia, and Louisiana, which were left
in bondage. (His Proclamation),
Lord John Russell, British Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, sneered at it and sent the following dispatch to the
ministers at Washington: "It is a measure of a questionable kind; an act of vengeance on the slave owner. It possesses emancipation only where the United States Authority
cannot make emancipation a reality, but not where that decree can be carried out."

As an excuse for arming the slaves, Mr. Lincoln said:
"I am pretty well cured of any objection to any measure except want of adaptedness to putting down the rebellion,"
(James ,C. Welling's Reminiscences of Lincoln).

Rhodes in his history of the United States: "At a cabinet meeting when the proclamation was announced, Secretary Seward said: "At this junction (1862) it would likely
seem the last measure of an exhausted government; our last shriek in retreat. Ida Tarbell makes the same statement. Mr. Lincoln was induced to wait for a Union victory.

It was a clear confession that they had failed to defeat
the Confederate army in the open field of honor as man to
man, and were compelled to resort to the method attacking
through the homes.
What a Magnificent Tribute to Valor!

It was a failure. None of Mr. Lincoln's objects were
realized. The most of the slaves remained at home loyal
and true, protecting the women and children, and they produced food for them.
xx
The proclamation had a depressing effect on stocks and
the election in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, which followed the announcement in the previous September, went
against the party in power. There were large desertions
from the army. (Rhodes). The ranks were largely filled
from foreign enlistment. Until the late World War, pensions amounting to nearly one million dollars were paid annually to foreigners, distributed through Germany, France,
Austria-Hungary, Russia, Belgium, Luxemburg, England,
Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Canada for their services in
helping to coerce loyal American descendants of the heroes
of the Revolution. (Confederate Veteran). In speaking of
it afterwards, Mr. Lincoln said: "It was the folly of my life.
It was like the Pope's Bull against the comet." (Wendel
Phillips).

It is a historical travesty to celebrate January 1st, the
anniversary of the Proclamation, as "Emancipation Day."
The slaves were freed by the Thirteenth Amendment to the
Constitution after the war. This amendment was introduced
by Mr. Henderson, of Missouri, a Southern man, and was
the culmination of forces that had been at work for a half
century. There were ISO abolition societies in the United
States before 1820, of which 106 were in the South, (Lundy's Universal Emancipation.) Virginia Legislature made
thirty-two efforts to abolish the slave trade. Georgia and
other States did the same, but were defeated by New England representatives, George Washington urged the gradual emancipation of
slaves and freed his by will. So did George Mason and John
Randolph and the Lees. Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia,
urged, in the Declaration of Independence, that the slave
trade be forbidden and John Adams, of Massachusetts, defeated it.

In 1816 the African Colonization Society was organized, with James Madison, of Virginia, as president. Thomas
Jefferson testified that many slave-holders were planning to
free their slaves. When James Monroe, of Virginia, was
president, a tract of land on the west coast of Africa was
secured for the colonization of slaves and called Liberia.
In 1847 it became a republic, with Negroes as officers. Its capital was named "Monrovia," in honor of Monroe, and it
was protected by the Monroe Doctrine.

Thousands of Negroes (more than were included in the
Proclamation) were freed by Southern slave-holders in their
wills. Jefferson Davis, when in the United States Senate,
urged that a plan be made for emancipation that would be
best for the slave-holder and the slave. The great problem
confronting the movement was: How could they best dispose of the slave under freedom? This was why Southern
men were so insistent about securing more space from the
new territory, to relieve the congested condition of the slave
States, that they might prepare the slaves freed for their
future government, (Congressional Record.)

Charles Francis Adams, Jr., said: "Had the South been
allowed to manage this question unfettered, the slaves would
have been ere this fully emancipated and that without blood-
shed."

The South Not Responsible for Slavery.
If slavery was a sin so strongly defined by Mr. Lincoln
and the Abolitionists of New England, the sin lies at the
door of the New England slave traders, who brought the
-slaves here and sold them. No Southern man ever owned or
commanded a slave-ship or ever went to Africa for slaves.
The first ship built in America to carry on the slave traffic
was in Massachusetts and sailed from Marblehead, Mass.,
in 1836. (Thompson's History.)

The Southern planters gave them civilization and Christianity ; provided them with homes and home comforts, and
taught them useful arts of industry. When the war broke
cut, there were over 500,000 church members among: the
slaves, and over $400,000 had been spent for their evangelization. They had become a part of the social order in
the South. A more beautiful character does not figure in
romance or legend than the "Black Mammy" of the old South.

The slave trade was a profitable enterprise in New England. Many of the fortunes that now startle us with their
splendor in Newport, Rhode Island, had their origin in the
stave trade. "The Cradle of Liberty," "Faneuil Hall," in
Boston, was built by Peter Faneuil, its owner, with slave trade money. Girard College, in Philadelphia, was built by
Stephen Girard with money made by African slaves on a
Louisiana plantation.

Mr. Lincoln Violated The Constitution.
Mr. Drinkwater places special emphasis on the fact that
Mr. Lincoln scrupulously obeyed the Constitution "Abraham was all for the Constitution," said he in his drama.
Calling for troops to coerce the South; refusing to withdraw from Fort Sumter, the territorial possession of South
Carolina; the Emancipation Proclamation; destruction of
private property; suspension of habeas corpus; unlawful arrests of law-abiding, peaceful citizens; suppression of the
freedom of the press and free speech which marked the
Lincoln Administration were violations of the Constitution.
Making medicines and surgical instruments and appliances
contraband of war and refusing an exchange of prisoners
were violations of all recognized civilized warfare.

Mendel Phillips, in lectures in New York and Boston,
1861, said: "Lieber says that habeas corpus, free speech
and tree press are the three elements which distinguish liberty from despotism. All that Saxon blood has earned in two hundred years are these three things, Today every one
of them is annihilated in every square mile of the Republic. "

Thirty-eight thousand men and women, editors politicians, clergymen of good character and honor, are imprisoned m gloomy, damp casements for no overt acts, but
simply because they were democratic suspects, many of them
not having the least idea for what cause, and without being
given a trial. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended by
order of Mr. Lincoln in order to carry out the arbitrary
arrests. (Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, Bancroft's
Life of Seward.)

The destruction of property in Virginia, the Carolinas
and Georgia was by order of the War Department, of which
President Lincoln was the commander-in-chief. The only
stain that mars the "Stars and Stripes" was placed under
the Lincoln Administration. Such disregard for civilized rules was never allowed in any other war in which the
"Stars and Stripes" have ever engaged.

Orders from Lieutenant General Grant, U. S. A. to Mai
Gen. Sheridan m Virginia: "Do all the damage to railroads
and crops you can. Carry off stock of all descriptions and
the Negroes so as to prevent further planting. We want the
Shenandoah Valley to remain a barren waste."

Sheridan's Official Report; "I have burned 2,000 barns
filled with wheat and corn, all the mills in the whole country
destroyed all the factories of cloth, killed or driven off every
animal, even the poultry, that could contribute to human
sustenance." "Nothing should be left in Shenandoah but
eyes to lament the war."

(The Story of a Great March: "Brevet Maj. Geo. W.
Nichols, Aide-de-Camp to Gen. Sherman.")
History will in vain be searched for a parallel to the
scathing and destructive effect of the invasion of the Carolinas. Aside from the destruction of military things, there
were destructions overwhelming, overleaping- the present
generation. Even if peace speedily come, agriculture and
commerce cannot be revived in a day. On every side the
head, center and rear of our columns might be traced by
columns of smoke by day and the glare of names by night.
The burning hand of war on these people is blasting, withering.

One hundred million dollars of damage has been done to
Georgia; $20,000,000 inured to our benefit, the remainder
simply waste and destruction. "I'll not restrain the army lest
its vigor and energy be impaired." (Sherman's Memoirs.)

Story of a Great March.
We are leaving Atlanta, Georgia, all aflame. The air is
filled with flying, burning cinders. Buildings covering 200
acres are in ruined flames. I heard a soldier say, "I believe
Sherman has set the very river on fire. The rebel inhabitants
are in agony. The soldiers are as hearty and jolly as men
can be." (Gregg's History, p. 375.)

The wanton pillage or uncompensated appropriation of
individual property by an enemy's country is against the
usage of modern times. (William M. Macy, Secretary of
War, July 28, 1865.)

A Contrast.
Gen. Lee, for fear his soldiers should pillage when foraging in Pennsylvania, had roll call three times a day.

President Davis issued the following orders: "In regard
to the enemy's crews and vessels, you are to proceed with
justice and humanity which characterizes our government
and its citizens."

Gen. John B. Gordon to the women in York, Penn.: "If
the torch is applied to a single dwelling or an insult offered
to a woman by a soldier in my command, point me to the
man and you shall have his life."

Gen. Lee Did Not Offer His Sword to Gen. Grant.
Gen. Lee did not offer his sword to Gen. Grant. The
scene of Gen. Grant refusing the sword of Gen. Robert to
Lee in the drama is not in accordance with the real facts.
Among the terms of surrender agreed to by the two commanders were that the Confederates were to retain their
side arms and horses. Gen. Lee never offered his sword to
Gen. Grant. Grant did not demand it. (War Rec)
Abraham Lincoln Not a Christian,
Mr. Drinkwater represents Mr. Lincoln in one scene as
kneeling 1 in prayer, and reference is made of his Christianity. "No phase of Mr. Lincoln's character has been so persistently misrepresented as this of his religious belief. When
he went to Salem he consorted with the free-thinkers and
joined them in deriding the gospel story of Jesus. He wrote
a labored book on the subject, which his friend, Hill, burned
up. Not until after Mr. Lincolns death were any of these
facts denied." (Lannom's Life of Lincoln.)
Mr. Lincoln never made any confession of faith nor attached himself to any creed.
(Ida Tarbell's Life of Lincoln.)
"Abraham Lincoln became more discreet in later life
and used words and phrases to make it appear that he was
a Christian. But he never changed on this subject. He lived
and died a deep-grounded infidel." (Herndon's Life of Lincoln.)

The Apotheosis.
"Such is human sympathy and human love, that assassination is ever a consecration. The figure vanishes into
mist, incense vapors a vision, not a man. There is little
justice that is written of Lincoln. I have never read a description of him that recalls him as I Knew him. Something
always beyond and beyond. Nor has fame been kind to him
in the sense that fame is never kind unless it is just." (John
Russell Young's Review in New York Times, January 18,
1902.)

The ceremony of Mr. Lincoln's Apotheosis was planned
and executed after his death by men who were unfriendly
to him while he lived. Men who had exhausted the resources
of their skill and ingenuity in venomous destruction of the
living Lincoln were the first after death to undertake the
task of guarding the memory, not as a human, but a god.
After his death it became political necessity to pose him as
the greatest, Godliest man that ever lived. (Lannom's Life
of Lincoln.)

The authors of the Apotheosis were those who hated Lincoln "in life, but hated the South more. They used it to incriminate the South and the South's great leader, Jefferson
Davis, in Lincoln's assassination, and gave them what they viewed as justifiable causes for the horrors of the Reconstruction Period which followed. It found large space in the
literature and histories of the times, and was largely circulated. It was necessary to deify Lincoln in order to sacrifice
the South.

Comrades:
The Committee appointed at the last Reunion, 1919, to
make an organized effort to have the truths of Confederate
history imparted to our young organized, and in honor of
the great Southern Educator and Historian, who suggested
to you the. movement, named the Committee "The Rutherford Committee."

The Sons and Daughters organizations were invited to
join with us, the Sons promptly accepted and appointed
a Committee of Co-operation. The United Daughters of
the Confederacy took no action, but many Units of the
Organization have given us endorsement and assistance.

Your Committee aimed to work on two lines of endeavor, First: to have the truths of Confederate History taught
to Colleges and High Schools by Lecturers; Second: to watch
School Book adoptions and influence the adoption of books
fair to the South.

As to the first. Your Committee was without funds to
pay such lecturers, and hence these Lectures could be de-
livered only to institutions willing to pay the very moderate
charge established. We failed to secure such lecturers in
any State save South Carolina, and in that State our Chairman undertook the work. He delivered a Lecture to nearly
all the leading Colleges and Universities in the State and
to several High Schools, which cheerfully met the expense.
The practical success in South Carolina makes it fair to
presume that the plan would work in other States. For
these States we need Lecturers, and any one who can suggest suitable Lecturers will please do so to the Chairman
or to any member of the Committee.

As to the second: The only State adoption which has
so far occurred, was that of Mississippi. Your Committee
made an earnest appeal to the Text Book Commission of
that State, aroused the support of local Veterans and Sons,
the latter led by the Sons' Commandant- in-Chief, Forest.
The result was that the Histories adopted were fair to the
South.

Wherever adoptions have come to our knowledge we have
taken similar action. As the Colleges of the South are not
generally governed by State adoptions, your Committee has
just sent to each of the same the accompanying appeal, Exhibit A., together with Miss Rutherford's "Measuring Rod."
The efforts of your Committee have been very much restricted by want of financial support, — contributions from
the Veteran Members of the Committee have, in part, met
the expense, but if any continued or more thorough work
is to be done, you must provide the funds. You cannot
hope to raise fifteen millions, as your Committee is not
advocating the election of a President, but $5,000 or $10,000
will enable us to establish the Truth, exonerate our dead
comrades and you, from the unjust slanders which have
been so mercilessly heaped upon you and upon them in the
attempt to justify the wrong side in the Struggle of the
Sixties.

Your Committee bow to Miss Mildred Rutherford for
her splendid efforts to advance the great cause for which
she and they are striving. She published at her own expense her valued "Measuring Rod" and donated to the Veterans and Sons 2,000 copies, and to others 1,000 copies. This
little booklet is a concentrated test, which if applied by the
Adopting Boards to Histories, will assure only books fair to
the South being used in our Schools. She submitted to
cur Committee a vast collection of facts which every man,
woman and child in the South should know. Only a small
part could be used in her "Measuring Rod," so she published
the majority, as "The Truths of History." She presented
our Committee with 300 copies of these, and has given
away to aid the great cause 4,460 copies. Are there not
Veterans and Sons who can emulate the generosity of Miss
Rutherford? But we have not found them yet. The Truths
of History she could not be expected to give to the public, but they can be bought for 50 cents a copy. Untold value
for 50¢ Your Committee urges that every Veteran and
Son should show their love for and appreciation of Miss
Rutherford by purchasing a copy.

In our work we are pleased to find that generally the
School Authorities of the South have been awakened to
the importance of using books fair to the South. Books
actively antagonistic and unfair have become largely ruled
out, but in many cases supplanted by books written simply
not to antagonize Southern feeling. Such books while abstaining from unjust criticism and sometimes giving full
credit to some deeds of the Confederates dare not tell the
whole truth, and only by the whole truth can the South be
fully vindicated. Our children should not be taught from
histories written to please both sides, nor from deleted
books, with a Northern and a Southern Edition. They
should be taught from Histories which give the full truth,
and only by such can the South be vindicated. The agitation in the past by the Confederate organizations has
brought about the good so far obtained and a continuance
thereof will, we are sure, end in having our young taught
that the South was right in Secession, that the men fought
a noble fight, and the women gloriously backed them, and
that only the overpowering of numbers and resources
forced the truth to earth.

The following Appeal had been issued:
To all College and School Authorities of the South:
There is no sectionalism in this appeal. If we are wrong
and there is, then let any blame rest upon those who by
defamation have rendered defense necessary.

The young of the South should be taught historical
truth. Their forbears of Confederate days should be judged
not by conditions existing today, but by those which prevailed in 1861, When the States seceded in the sixties, each
seceded from a constitutional, and universally recognized,
federation of Sovereign States. Our country as a centralized nation did not exist in 1861. So our text books should,
in all fairness and truth, teach that the motives of the
actors in that great drama were influenced by facts then
existing and not by those obtaining today. Too many of
the histories used in teaching our young, even when the
authors are disposed to be impartial, which, alas, many are
not present secession viewed through the glasses of today
and not those of 1861. It is due to the Veterans and mothers of the Confederacy that the young be taught to "Honor
thy Father and thy Mother" and not to despise them as
either traitors or imbeciles.

Our Rutherford Committee in. the name of and authorized by the great Confederate Federations, the veterans and
sons, appeal most earnestly to all educators to see that no
histories are studied or even placed upon library shelves,
which do not render impartial justice to the Confederates.

We send "The Measuring Rod," by that eminent Southern educator and historian, Miss Mildred L. Rutherford, and
ask that all educators will apply this "Rod" to all books
offered for use in their institutions and promptly reject any
which does not measure "fair to the South" by this rod.

The wheel of Time makes another revolution and its
recurring cycle is signalized by the meeting of the honoredConfederate Veteran
with his comrades of bygone days in thirty-first annual reunion. Your sons, with
pardonable pride in the heritage of glory wrought out for them on the gory
fields of battle and in the pleasant paths of peace, and with purpose to
bequeath that heritage untarnished to those who follow in their train, are come
also to witness the one sad, fast-fading joy remaining to the heroes of the
"Lost Cause" and to catch the inspiration freighted here on every passing
breeze. Your daughters, the Daughters of the Confederacy, are present, clothed
in all the radiant beauty of Southern young womanhood, and bring their tribute of reverence
and honor and love. Three generations of us are met together in this goodly Southern city to live over again immortal memories and to weld anew the bonds of love which
shall too soon be severed by the hand of death.

It is well that you thus come together in these great
annual convocations. Golden deeds shall fade and perish
from the memory of man unless told with sympathetic touch
in story and song and fed by the fires of inspiration such
as are kindled on occasions like these. Always, comrades
in a common cause feel the surge of compelling conviction
and find for flagging zeal and fading strength a bracing
cordial in meeting en masse. The lone pilgrim grows fainthearted as, footsore and weary, he trudges along the dusty
way; but his blood runs faster, his step becomes elastic,
and his heart leaps up as comrades press his side and journey with him. There is a peculiar loneliness that must
steal ever and anon upon the Confederate veteran as farther he draws from the fields of conflict made immortal by
his gallant deeds. Cherishing the dead ashes of a once living faith, with his thinned ranks being fast decimated by
death, his heart yearns for the fellowship of kindred spirits.
In these annual meetings, his longing is realized as fraternity, weaving her silken threads and enfolding him in her
charms, breaks the dreary monotony of life and Tills his
heart with the rippling waves of joy. Coming thus together, you will make impress upon a busy world which
shall pause to listen to the cadences of your sad sweet story,
again to resume its interrupted march, cherishing always
for you a deeper reverence and according to you that tribute
of praise that, as soldiers ever true and brave and now as
citizens of fidelity and honor, you so justly deserve.

This good hour brings you to an empire of treeless plain
and wooded forest whose wealth is illimitable and whose
glory is imperishable, and whose sons are fed from childhood on her history of patriotic deed and daring. The pillars of this commonwealth were laid in the blood of her
rugged pioneers. Here you will find a people with spirits
kindred to yours. The soul fiber of her sons has been
strengthened by struggle, first in subduing the wild wilderness and the wilder red man native to her soil. Then, with
life and destiny imperiled, they saddled their little Indian
ponies, and with sword thrust and sabre stroke, drove the
Mexican greaser back across the Rio Grande to his cactus
home, proclaiming in that act that dominion and power in
this Western realm should belong to the proud Anglo-Saxon
race.

It is a state with a checkered history. Seven flags have
waved over, her people and claimed their allegiance. One
of these was the flag whose fortunes you followed for four
long years till, at length, it trailed in the dust, the Stars
and Bars of the Southern Confederacy.

It is a land of inspiring memory and abiding monument.
Fifteen minutes away is San Jacinto battle field, where General Sam Houston crushed the arrogant foe and won for
Texas her independence. And yonder in my city is the
historic Alamo, monument of imperishable glory, where, to
a man, Crockett and Travis and Bowie and their noble compatriots perished, choosing death rather than a prisoner's
fate with the Mexican foe. Her contribution to the Southern Confederacy consisted of Terry's Texas Rangers and
Hood's Texas Brigade, both as brave as Marshal Ney's rear
guard of the grand army of France, and Albert Sidney Johnston, and eighty thousand men as brave as the bravest
whose blood crimsoned the hillsides of a hundred fields of
battle As you breathe the air of this State, fresh from
the white capped waves of the Gulf, remember that it reveres men like you; that none ever more loyal to your
standard than they; and that her citizenship is grafted
from the best stock the Old South ever produced.

From Appomattox, where in grim grandeur the Confederacy died, till now is a long span. The wheels of progress
have moved unceasingly on. Our country has marched to
the forefront among the nations of the earth and today
holds the balance in the scale of world dominion The titanic struggle between the twenty-one nations of earth was
brought to a speedy close by the intervention of my country
and yours as she gave herself to force without stint and
decided against German autocracy and wrong and for democracy and right. Our country has entered upon her manifest destiny, the champion of the moral forces of the universe and the umpire in the international conflict between
the forces of righteousness and the forces of unrighteousness. In that role lies her chiefest glory. And God grant
that she shall be true to her mission.

Granting all that, was the war between the states a
fruitless struggle, and was your effort for the disruption of
the union and the establishment of a separate government
a crime? In my teens, a conviction respecting that matter
was formed, and that conviction remains fast fixed through
the years. Victor Hugo, in seeking a solution of the issue of
Waterloo, explains it in one word, "GOD." And to me the
explanation of the tragic end of the short-lived Confederacy
at Appomattox is that God, in His inscrutable wisdom, ordained that this union between the States, though loose and
imperfect, should not be dissolved. You will remember that
the foundations of this republic were not laid till humble
appeal in prayer to God was made for divine guidance and
protection. Patrick Henry gives us the cue that explains
every page of the history of our national life. Speaking before the Continental Congress, and urging them, though
weak and unpanoplied, to strike for the inalienable right of
liberty, he said: "Besides all this, Cod will raise up friends
to fight for us." His prophecy came true. Lafayette came
with his French comrades, seven thousand of them, and in
the darkest night of the war for independence turned the
tides of defeat into victory. And God has ever jealously
guarded the destinies of this republic, and, with His watchful eye of love, has kept this last sanctuary of His divine
purposes as He kept Israel, the depository of the divine oracles in the ancient age; so that every issue of the sword,
including that in which you drank to the bitter dregs the
cup of defeat, has been settled after the immutable counsels of His own righteous will. If that bears the stamp of
Presbyterianism, I disdain a distinction not mine, and humbly confess that I swear allegiance to the creed and death
less principles of the Baptist peoples.
The conflict joined in the sixties was engermed in the
constitution written by our fathers; It admitted of double
interpretation ; and unfortunately the North and the South
could not agree in the interpretation of that document. The
struggle waged so gloriously by you was bound to come,
some, time in the history of this nation, Mutterings of it
had been heard almost from the first. That it came in your
lifetime, we your sons were saved from its indescribable
horrors.

To the issue as decided by the arbitrament of the sword,
you and we have long since reconciled ourselves. The destiny to which we have arrived as a united people, we realize, had never been achieved by a divided country. And
that struggle forever put a stop to petty sectional jealousies
and bickering between the North and the South. As one
people, with one purpose and aim, as with one flag, we sent
Joe Wheeler to fight side by side with Theodore Roosevelt
! in Cuba, and brought liberty to the captives of that beautiful isle. As one people with one flag of forty-five stars,
eighteen of them representing the Southern States that
swear a fealty to it in which there is no secret evasion or
mental reservation, two million sons, North and South,
crossed the treacherous seas and put down the flag of the
imperial Kaiser and, in. triumph, raised aloft the folds of Old
Glory on the sodden, suffering, bleeding fields of France. In
my heart I sing the paeans of praise to Almighty God for
that culmination; and I thank God that there is now unity
in purpose and purpose in the unity of this grand confederation of states, which, please God, shall be forever indissoluble.

With these reflections, then, you may go out from this
reunion with unwavering doubt as to the justice of your
cause, assured that we, your sons, proud of your record,
will never apologize for your part in the war between the
States; and with this sweet boon, we bid you pillow your
heads in peace in the hour and article of death. That the
iron in your blood may keep its temper and the fire in your
souls may flame afresh, we want to assure you that we do
not reckon you as traitors to your country nor do we feel
that your struggle was in vain; and that every loyal son
of the Confederacy, yes, every son of the South, worthy a
habitation and a home under her soft blue skies, carries that
same conviction rooted deep in the recesses of his soul.

The South is a land of tragedy. The old Virginia fields
over which I passed recently have all of them been drenched
in blood. Mississippi and Tennessee have felt the tread of
contending armies that brought desolation to her peoples
and ruin to her industries. South Carolina, that sounded
first the signal of defiance in her belching guns at Sumter,
paid for her audacity in a terrible vengeance wreaked upon
her by the enemy; and the monuments of civilization in
Georgia went down in fiery flames kindled by the hands of
the relentless foe. Her every section suffered the untold
horrors of war that was avowedly pushed to break her
proud spirit and bring her to subjection. On July 4th, 1863,
two staggering blows were struck, the one at Gettysburg,
the other at Vicksburg, that sent her reeling to her certain doom, and in grim grandeur, the long agony of the Confederacy ended at Appomattox, April 9th, 1865.

But a land without sorrow is a land without monument,
and a land without monument is a land without its abiding
stories. Bunker Hill monument is a shaft of light and glory,
and spells the sublime story of the supreme sacrifice of men
that loved liberty better than life. The pales of glory lead
but to the grave. The cross, once a token of ignominy, is
now a badge of honor; and Calvary, while place of agony,
is place of redemption, that draws by its divine magnetism
ever swelling hosts of worshippers.

The chiefest monument reared by the Old South and
passed on to the New is the fadeless memory of rugged men
who supported conscience in the toll of sacrifice and spurned
to barter principle for the paltry perishable possessions of
time. As token of it, we point to the hardships of four
years of frightful war which you bore without a murmur,
and to the scars you brought back to the blackened ruins of
your homes.
As inspiring to me as the strains of martial music, as
sweet as the memory of a marriage bell, as tender as the
touch of baby fingers, as dear as remembered kisses after
death, is the memory of a youth yet in his teens as he followed the fickle fortunes of the Lost Cause, till in Missouri,
in a mad cavalry dash, under General Price, he fell pierced
to the vitals by a minie ball. Times without number while
he lingered here did I climb his knee and beg for a fragment of that story of glory of which you are the last fast passing survivors. And as I now recall that ghastly hole
in his breast, that cruel mark of war which carried him to
a premature grave, I think of it, not in bitterness and in
vindictive spirit, but as a heritage of glory; and if I forget
the priceless legacy of his character and sacrifice, may my
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth and my hands fall
nerveless to my side.
This is a memorial service. The memory of the noble
dead always refines. We journey oft to the cemetery and
gather close about the mounds of clay under which rests
the ashes of our loved ones, and in silence, we steal away,
carrying in our bosoms the flaming passion for a better
life. The most sacred and hallowed service of our Christian
churches is that service wherein, with the broken bread and
the poured-out wine, our hearts are focused upon Calvary's
cross and the dying Lamb of God, In that service, we sit
transfixed in wonder at the outreach and the down reach of
God's amazing love, and out of the atmosphere gendered
there, we file slowly out, with faces set like flint on the fadeless fields of light that lie beyond.

So here today, we hold sweet converse with the spirits
of departed comrades. We cannot forget them. While they
sleep beneath the dust on a thousand hillsides, with the soughing pines playing their last sad requiem and the lone night
bird picketing their lowly couches, let us remember them
as good soldiers of the Southern Confederacy, the aristocrats of suffering and sorrow, the real aristocracy of the
Old South, and whatever of fault or foible was theirs, let
us cover at with the mantle of sweet charity. And when
between this and the next reunion, you shall hear the clarion
bell of death, as many, many of you will, may it be granted
you, because of your childlike faith in Christ, the Son of
God, like the immortal Stonewall Jackson that you so loved,
to cross over the river and rest under the shade of the
trees in the land beyond the everlasting blue.